WCA July 2015

India Insight

Steel shed Tata Steel has sold its entire stake in Lanka Special Steels Ltd (LSSL) to E B Creasy & Company PLC in an all cash deal. LSSL, incorporated in Sri Lanka, was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel. It is engaged in the business of manufacturing and supplying hot dip galvanised wire and nail wire with an installed capacity of 14,400 tonnes per annum. It is the sole manufacturer of GI wires in Sri Lanka and caters to the commercial galvanised wires market for end uses such as barbed wires, wire meshes and chain links. Lanka Special Steels Ltd – Sri Lanka Website : www.lankassl.com India hydro project GVK Power & Infrastructure has announced that the first unit of a 330MW hydropower project in India’s Uttarakhand state is now online, with units two and three to follow shortly. The project features four 82.5MW units and a 248m long, 90m high dam with a head of 66m. The plant, located on the Alaknanda river in the city of Srinagar, will sell 88 per cent of its power to the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh under a power purchase agreement, but will reserve 12 per cent for Uttarakhand without charge, the developer said. GVK’s founder, chairman and managing director, GVK Reddy, said: “This project is another significant step towards contribution of the country’s infrastructural development. We are happy to have lived up to the faith reposed in us.” He added: “This project not only aims to benefit the people of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, but also aid the nation to be self-reliant.” GVK Power & Infrastructure – India Website : www.gvk.com Industry predictions Bharat Book Bureau’s latest report, “Insulated wire and cable”, presents historical demand data (from 2004, 2009 and 2014) and forecasts (for 2019 and 2024) by material, product and market. The report projects that USA insulated wire and cable demand will exceed $27 billion in 2019, as total consumption of insulated wire and cable continues to recover from its depressed 2009 level. A strong expected recovery in construction expenditures will fuel growth in demand for several types of wire, including building, electronic, and power wire and cable.

Building wire and cable held the largest share of demand in 2014, and is expected to see the most rapid advances through to 2019, to exceed $8 billion. An expected acceleration in growth of building construction expenditures, after a period of slow improvement between 2009 and 2014, is anticipated to drive growth. The construction market for insulated wire and cable is forecast to benefit from the fastest growth of any wire and cable market. In addition to building wire, rising construction expenditures will increase demand for telephone wire and coaxial cable. The electrical equipment market held the largest share of insulated wire and cable demand during 2014. Through the forecast period, demand is projected to increase 4.1 per cent per year, driven by higher demand for wire and cable for power transmission and distribution. Increasing electricity production as well as use of new sources of power generation, such as solar and wind farms, will support the growth. After heavy rains and high winds caused damage to trees and electricity poles in Bengaluru, civic agencies are to take action to identify decaying trees and to route cables underground in areas of dense vegetation. Though civic experts had previously recommended underground cabling to avoid outages and electrocution risks due to damage of electric poles and cables, the government had hesitated to act due to the high cost. Underground cabling would cost Bescom (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) five times more than overhead cable. However, in recent years the government has carried out underground cabling of 11kV in parts of the city, and low voltage cable will be placed underground in some areas. Bescom MD Pankajkumar Pandey said it will seek more funds in the coming budget to take up underground cabling, especially in areas with dense tree cover. “These are the areas which are largely affected during the tree fall. However, the government is now keen on taking cables underground and we are demanding substantial funding for the purpose,” he said. Mr Pandey also stated that softwood trees, planted in Bengaluru a few years ago, were taking a toll on electric poles and wires. “We need trees which can withstand the local weather conditions. We are holding talks with the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) to begin a survey to identify the decaying trees, so that the damage to electric wires is minimised.” Bangalore Electricity Supply Company – India Website : www.bescom.org The full report is available now. Bharat Book Bureau – India Website : www.bharatbook.com Going underground

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2015